GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge High School football team defeated Roselle Park, 35-20, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Nov. 5, to advance to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Group 1 regional invitational tournament championship game.
The Ridgers won their second straight game and improved to 4-5 on the season.
Glen Ridge jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Max Carbonell kicked a 37-yard field goal with 9:04 remaining to make it 3-0. Quarterback Dylan O’Neil scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, followed by Carbonell’s extra point kick, with 1:32 left in the quarter.
O’Neil fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Carbonell, who kicked the extra point, to make it 17-0 with 5;09 left in the second quarter. Carbonell booted a 28-yard field goal with 2:09 remaining to give the Ridgers a 20-0 halftime lead.
Roselle Park got on the scoreboard on a 45-yard touchdown run to cut it 20-6 with 8:47 left in the third quarter. The conversion run was unsuccessful.
The RIdgers answered when Frankie Renois ran for a 16-yard touchdown, and Jake Russell scored on the conversion run, with 7:24 left in the third quarter to extend it to 28-6. Roselle Park scored on a 71-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left in the quarter to make it 28-12. The extra point failed.
In the fourth quarter, O’Neil threw a 15-yard TD pass to Matteo Pavan with 9:48 left, followed by Carbonell’s extra point, for a 35-12 lead. Roselle Park closed out the scoring with a 66-yard run, followed by the conversion run, with seven seconds remaining. Roselle Park fell to 5-5.
Glen Ridge outgained Roselle Park, 342-217.
The Ridgers will host Hawthorne in the final on Thursday, Nov. 10, at Hurrell Field at noon. Hawthorne defeated Verona, 27-10, in the other semifinal for its fourth straight win to improve to 5-5.
This is the first year for the regional invitational tournaments for teams that missed qualifying for the state playoffs.
Glen Ridge notable stats vs. Roselle Park:
Passing:
- O’Neil: 12 of 20 attempts for 178 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing:
- Carbonell: 9 carries for 61 yards.
- David Kelly: 13 carries for 46 yards.
- O’Neil: 4 carries for 30 yards.
- Renois: 6 carries for 28 yards.
Receiving:
- Pavan: 4 catches for 42 yards.
- Brad Foster: 3 catches for 66 yards.
- Renois: 2 catches for 47 yards.
- Kelly: 2 catches for 13 yards.
- Carbonell: 1 catch for 10 yards.
Leading tacklers:
- William Horan, 10 tackles.
- Max Corradi: 7.5 tackles.
- Renois: 6 tackles.
- Kelly: 6 tackles.
- Pavan: 5 tackles.
- Joshua Schumann: 5 tackles.
Kickoff returns:
- Renois: 3 attempts for 120 yards.
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected. The correct date of the regional invitational final is Thursday, Nov. 10.
Photos Courtesy of Brianne Aumack.
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